Packing for cylindrical foils and a method for packing these cylinders



March 12, 1968 H. WAGTER 3,372,801

PACKING FOR CYLINDRICAL FOILS AND A METHOD FOR PACKING THESE CYLINDERS Filed Feb. 23, 1967 United States Patent 3,372,801 PACKING FOR CYLINDRICAL FOILS AND A METHOD FOR PACKING THESE CYLINDERS Hendrik Wagter, Mook, Netherlands, assignors to Gebr. Stork & Cos Apparatenfabriek N.V., Amsterdam, Netherlands Filed Feb. 23, 1967, Ser. No. 618,210 Claims priority, application Netherlands, Mar. 31, 1966, 66--4,317 4 Claims. (Cl. 206-65) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A number of cylindrical metal stencils slid into each other and packed in a box, said stencils contacting each adjacent stencil over at least one half of their circumference, the remaining part being spaced by means of soft resilient material.

On transporting cylindrical foils, like for instance cylindrical stencils, problems are encountered as to the packing which are caused owing to the special vulnerability and the voluminous character of the product concerned. This becomes evident when one considers that there is a question of seamless cylinders made of metal foil and having a diameter in the order of magnitude of some decimet-res and a wall thickness which in most cases amounts to less than 0.10 mm. The packing should meet the requirement that the product be protected in such a way that even after very rough handling when transported by the usual means of conveyance of the public transportation, no damage is incurred. The product should moreover be dispatched in such a compact shape that the transport charges, especially by transport to other par-ts of the world remain within acceptable limits.

Attempts have been made to dispatch these cylinders in suitable cartons or boxes which whether or not are packed in cases. This method did not work, since it often occurred that even when the packing was entirely undamaged a very great percentage of the cylinders arrived in an unserviceable condition at the place of destination. The transport charges appeared moreover to be intolerable high owing to its bulkiness.

It is an object of the invention to provide a solution for these two problems. For that purpose the invention is based on the understanding, that the damage to the foil owing to buckling does not only occur as a consequence of contact with a hard object but rather on account of the inertia of the foil under sudden speed variations as a result of a shock.

Owing to this conception, the invention relates to an assembly of cylindrical foils such as seamless cylindrical metal stencils in a box shaped packing. The improvement according to this invention consists in that the cylinders have been slid into each other, each cylinder for an important part of its circumference bearing against the adjacent cylinder, the outermost cylinder bearing against the inner side of the packing box, a small intermediate space being provided along at least one area lying in the direction of the generatrix of each cylinder, this intermediate space being filled with a soft resilient material in at least the central zone of the aforementioned spreading area, the central zone by its lower and upper face bearing against the inner side of the packing box.

It has been found that in order to obtain the desired result, that is to say a not too voluminous, filled, packing which is shockand impactproof, it is essential that filling material be provided in the spreading area. The protection from contact with hard objects is obtained due to the proper selection and construction of the packing box.

The invention further aims to obtain a confined assembly of cylinders which is no longer suffering from accelerating and retarding forces.

The invention relates furthermore to an auxiliary device for composing a filled packing as indicated herebefore. This auxiliary device consists of a trough preferably with a V section and a rod situated thereabove, the latter being capable of displacement in or in the vicinity of the 'bisectrix-plane of the base of the trough. The cylinders to be packed can now be successively laid into the trough whereupon they are impressed by means of the rod and subsequently slid intothe preceding cylinder(s).

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the description to follow. In the description reference is made to the accompanying draw ings, which form a part hereof, and in which there is shown by way of illustration and not of limitation speci'fic forms in which the invention may be embodied.

FIG. 1 is a cross section of the filled packing.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the auxiliary device.

The filled package consists of a box 1 containing ten cylindrical foils *2. These cylinders 2 have the same diameter and are slid into each other. The part of the circumference of each cylinder is situated in front of the bottom and the two upright side walls of the box 1 is bearing on the corresponding part of another cylinder, these parts are therefore indicated by a thick line in FIG. 1. Along an area 3 situated in the direction of a generat-rix of each cylinder a small space is available between twoadjacent cylinders. In the central zone of this area 3 (hereinafter referred to as spreading area) a strip 4 of soft resilient material is provided. The upper face of the central zone is bearing, via a strip 5 of resilient material, on the cover of the box 11 and the lower face is bearing, via the intermediate members 6 and 7, on the bottom of the box.

The intermediate member 6 provides a support in the central zone of the area 3 that is to say in the zone containing the filling strips 4. It is also possible to provide a certain support on either side of the central zone by the aid of the thickened sides as shown in FIG. 1, but this is less essential than the support in the central zone. It should be noted that the members 5, 6 and 7 can be made of foam material, such as polystyrene, or sponge rubber, while also corrugated cardboard may be applied (see the member 7). The filling strips 4 are essential, sincesame together with the members 5-7 assist in making the assembly of cylinders 1 very shockproof. Retardingand acceleratory forces, which so far have given rise to buckles when the cylinders were separately packed, can nowbe absorbed without any ill effects.

FIG. 2 shows the auxiliary device consisting of a trough 8 with substantially V section and a rod 9 situated thereabove, the latter being parallel to the trough 8 and pivotally secured to a bracket 10. It is obvious that the trough 8 can have a different shape which is adapted to the shape of the cylinders 2.

On composing the filled packing according to the invention one proceeds as follows: a first cylinder is aligned with the auxiliary device shown in FIG. 2. Thereupon a second cylinder is laid into the trough 8, after which by a light pressure through the rod 9 this cylinder is deformed in the way as shown in FIG. 2. In this situation the cylinder is pushed into the first cylinder thereby taking care to simultaneously introduce a filling strip 4 in the central zone (see FIG. 1) of the spreading area 3. Hereupon a third, fourth, and so on, cylinder is slid into the preceding cylinders so that an assembly as shown in FIG. 1 is formed. This assembly is thereupon slid into the box 1, aftre which by the aid of filling member 5-7 a firm and confined units is formed.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. ,An assembly of cylindrical foils, such as seamless metal cylindrical stencils nested into each other and packed in a box, each cylinder for an important part of its circumference bearing against the inner side of the packing box, the improvement consisting in that the cross section of each cylinder is smoothly curved in a shape which is symmetrical with respect to a plane through the axis of the cylinder, each arbitrary cross section of the same cylinder being identically curved, an intermediate space being provided between each pair of adjacent cylinders along at least one area lying in the direction of the generatrix of each cylinder, said spaces forming a spreading area situated mirror. symmetrically with respect to said plane, the central zone of each of these inter-mediate spaces being filled with a strip of soft resilient material said spreading area being out of contact with the packing box except for the inner and outer cylinder bearing at their central zone against the inner side of the packing box.

2. A filled packing according to claim 1, characterized in that a strip of resilient material is interposed between the inner side of the packing box and the lower and upper face respectively of the spreading area, the resilient material on the lower face of the spreading area also being in contact with the innermost cylinder on either side of the central zone.

3. A package assembly comprising, in combination, a closed carton having spaced, opposed walls, a plurality of nested cylindrical stencils of flexible metal and having substantially equal diameters, including an inner cylinder and an outer cylinder and a plurality of intermediate cylinders inter-posed therebetween, said cylinders being disposed in said carton with their axes parallel to said opposed walls of the carton, combining means disposed within said inner cylinder and having a thickness substantially less than the diameter of said cylinders, said inner cylinder having a portion of its side walls, along its length, bearing upon said cushioning means, a cushioning strip interposed between said inner cylinder and the next adjacent cylinder, the next adjacent cylinder having a portion of its side Wall, along its length bearing up said cushioning strip, additional cushioning strips interposed between the remaining of said intermediate cylinders and between the last of the intermediate cylinder-s andsaid outer cylinder, with all of such said cylinders having portions of their side walls, along their lengths, bearing upon the associated cushioning strips, the cumulative thickness of said cushioning means and of said cushioning strips being such that said outer cylinder, upon hearing against its associated cushioning strip, is substantially flattened in that portion of its side wall bearing upon such associated cush ioning strip, and further cushioning means associated interposed between one of said carton walls and said substantially flattened area of the outer cylinder whereby to maintain the cylinders, the cushioning means and all of said cushioning strips sandwiched between said opposed walls of the carton.

4. The assembly as defined in claim 3 wherein said carton includes opposed side walls, said side walls bearing upon said outer cylinder.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,755,666 4/1930 Schaal 206- 2,291,755 8/1942 Pierce 206-65 2,654,473 10/ 1953 Pierce 206-65 3,135,382 6/1964 Crickard et al 206-65 JOSEPH R. LEOLAIR, Primary Examiner.

J. M. CASKIE, Assistant Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No, 3,372,801 D d March 12, 1968 Inventor) Hendrik Wagter It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 3, line 9, (claim 1, line 4 after "against" insert --the adjacent cylinder, the outermost cylinder bearing against-.

Attest:

wmmx. v: Anesung Offioer commissioner 0 Patio, 

